In a large-scale network widely dispersed clients are configured to access many servers. Often, multiple servers are capable of providing the same service, such as access to a popular website, to a client anywhere on the network. Site selection devices are used to direct a client requesting content to a server that can provide the requested content in an expeditious manner. The site selection devices employ load balancing techniques to determine, at any given time, which of the multiple servers is likely to be best able to provide requested content. One factor that is typically considered during load balancing is the proximity of a given server to the client requesting the content. In a load balancing context, proximity refers to the distance or delay between a client and server in terms of network topology rather than a strictly geographic distance. Of course, geographic proximity is typically a contributor to network topology proximity.